How Edouard Mendy went from adversity to Chelsea: The story of Blues' latest signing who almost quit football
Edouard Mendy made headlines when Chelsea announced that they had signed the Senegal international on a five-year contract for a fee reported to be £22 million ($28m). He quickly made his presence felt with a save from Sergio Reguilon was one of the highlights of the game against Tottenham Hotspur that also saw words of praise by Frank Lampard.
"I thought he was very good," said the gaffer post-game. "He made a couple of good saves. Came and caught a few balls. Very very pleased with every part of his game." In Mendy, the side has a tall goalkeeper better suited for League conditions as he fills the post and has the ability to anticipate crosses.
However, like all players with a story to tell, Mendy has his tale to share. Rollback to 2014, the same Mendy was without a club and his future was uncertain. A pregnant partner just added to the feeling of helplessness and he took up the unemployment benefit in France to support his family after he was released by Cherbourg.
Between 2011–2014, Mendy had 26 appearances for the club. Even as he searched for a club to sign up for, he trained with the Le Havre's reserves before moving to Marseille. According to The Guardian, Mendy wouldn't have believed he would end up in a top-tied giant in Chelsea six years ago.
“If someone had said to me six years ago when I didn’t have a club that I would end up here, I wouldn’t have even bothered looking at or listening to them,” Mendy said. I did genuinely have my doubts about whether I would carry on. But I look at it now and say that it’s thanks to those moments that I am where I am today, and my family has also been able to benefit from where I’ve got to with my football."
He also recounted how the journey panned out. "Back then when I got the message from my agent at the time I started immediately to go back to the club where I trained when I was young, Le Havre, and I was training with the reserves there every morning. In the afternoon I would go to the gym or to the pitch with my brother, to practice shot-stopping," the 28-year-old said.
“I had to take unemployment support at that time so I could dedicate myself totally to football… It was incredibly difficult and also my partner was expecting our first baby. And so the unemployment support wasn’t going to be enough for us, we needed something else, and so I did start looking for other work."
And now, he doesn't have to. With Lampard's move of bringing him to the Blues outfit in place of an erratic Kepa Arrizabalaga, Mendy has already cemented his place as one of the pivotal members of the side. His stopper was instrumental as the team forced Sevilla into a stalemate in their Champions League outing earlier this week. "At the moment yes; he's shown his quality. The way he's played, he's played very well, that's two clean sheets for him already," Lampard said post-game.
Mendy was quick to credit his family for their immense support. “But then I had the opportunity to go to Marseille and I was given a trial there. Fortunately for me, it worked, and when it did it was like a complete relief for me. Because one year to go without football is an incredibly long time. I had many, many doubts during that time. But it was thanks to my family who helped so much in those moments to keep me strong."
His litmus test comes on Saturday when Chelsea face Manchester United on Saturday (October 20). Mendy will have his work cut out against the likes of Edinson Cavani, Marcus Rashford, and Bruno Fernandes as they will attack relentlessly to find the back of the nets. Will this be Mendy's success story? Only time will tell.
The game is slated to kick-off at 12.30 pm ET on Saturday, October 24. It can be watched live on NBC.